Guard and signal for railways, etc.



11,477,438 A. T. GOOKlN GUARD AND SIGNAL FOR RAILWAYS, ETC

Filed Oct. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 11, 1923.

A TTOR/VEVS WITNESSES Dec. 11,1923. 1,477,43

' A. T. GOOKIN GUARD AND SIGNAL FOR RAILWAYS, ETC

Filed Oct. 1921 2 Sheets$heet 2 iii Patented Dec. 111-, i923,

UNETS STATES ALBERT T. GOOKIN, F CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

GUARD AND SIGNAL FOR BAILWAYS, ETC.

Application filed October 6, 1921. Serial No. 565,822.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. GooKIN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and ImprovedGuard and Signal for Railways, Eta, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to a guard and signal for highways, grade crossings, bridges, etc., to afford warning especially for drivers of vehicles and to offer a barrier to the passage of a vehicle over the crossing when the signal is displayed. A contemplated use of the guard also is to enable police and law officers to prevent the escape from a city or town of a vehicle being sought by the oflioers.

Objects of my invention are to provide a guard and signal of the indicated character improved in various particulars to the end whereby, among other advantages, the guard is made so as to yield to-the impact of a vehicle to minimize the possibility of injury to the guard and to the vehicle, as well as toprovide for the removal of a section of the guard without affecting the functions of the remaining sections and enabling the damaged section to be replaced with facility.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, it being understood that the drawings are merely illustrative of one example of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a crossing embodying an installation of my improved guard and signal;

Figure 2 is a. vertical section on the line 22, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail in elevation showing the yieldable means for raising and lowering the guard sections;

Figure 5 is a vertical section on the line 55, Figure 4.

In the particular installation of my invention are illustrated crossing rails 10, and the bed 11 is made substantially level with the rails, there being grooves 12 between the rails and bed for the passage of. the flanges of car wheels, the. numeral 13 indicating the intersection of the rails.

In accordance with my invention I provide series of guard sections 14, 14 the latter sections being smaller and disposed between the rails of the track. Said sections are secured by hinges 15, the character 15 indicating the strap of each hingesecured to the bed 11 or to a part appurtenant to the bed.

Signal towers 16 are provided, preferably four in number, at the outer corners of the crossing and provided with semaphores 17. The upper portions of the towers with the semaphores simulate a traflicofiicer and his arms.

Illustrated means for operating the signals and raising and lowering the guard sections 14 comprises a shaft 18 at one side of the crossing extending beneath one series of rails. On the said shaft 18 are clamps 19 secured by bolts 19 or the like to permit of theirxready removal from the shaft when required. The clamps 19 are arranged in pairs and from the clamps of each pair I extend spring bars 20 joined by av cross head 21 slotted at its ends to engage the edges of parallel plates 22 on the under side of each guard sect-ion 14. The arrangement is such that with the rocking of the shaft 18 the clamps 19 will turn therewith through an arc to cause the head 21 to raise the sections 14, said heads 21 having sliding engagement with the guard sections. With the guard 14 raised t constitute a barrier to a vehicle proceeding over the crossing, should a vehicle strike the guard, said guard will yield by reason of the resiliency of the spring bars 20, thereby reducing the possibility of damage to the guard sections and to the vehicle. The belts or the like 19 and the hinges 15, 15 permit of the removal or re; newal of a guard section 14 and its operating means comprising the elements 19, 20., 21.

In order to operate the semaphores 17 with the raising and lowering of the guard sections 14, suitable means is provided establishing an operative connection between the shaft 18 and said semaphores. In the illustrated example there is provided on the shaft 18 quadrants 23 adapted to rock with the shaft. the elements 23 and the semaphore arms 17', I have shown cables or flexible elements 24 secured at one end to the elements 23 and branching as at 25 at their upper ends, thebranehes being secured to the semaphore arms 17 of a pair. To turn the shaft 18 To establish connection between there is shown a hand lever 26 fixed on a rock shaft 27 on which is a pinion 28 meshing with a gear wheel 29 on shaft 18. the shaft 18 also is a bevel pinion 31 meshing with a similar pinion 32 on a shaft 33 disposed at right angles or approximately so to the shaft 18 and extending to the opposite side of the crossing, said shaft 33 at the said opposite side of the crossing carrying a fixed bevel pinion 32 meshing with a pinion 31 on a shaft 18 parallel with the shaft 18 at the opposite side of the crossing, the shaft 18 having quadrants 23 to which is secured flexible elements 2% rising in the towers 16 at the adjacent side of the crossing, said towers having semaphores 17 to which the branches of cables 2 1 connect. Thus, the semaphores at the four corners of the crossing will be simultaneously operated and the guards 14, 14; at two opposite sides of the crossing will simultaneously be raised or lowered.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the exact details herein illustrated, since, manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a road guard of the class described, a barrier comprising separate sections hinged adjacent the road surface to be manually raised or lowered, and yieldable means mounted on a shaft in sliding contact with newness said barrier for raising the same and afford a recoil to the barrier when impacted.

2. In a guard of the class described, a barrier comprisingseparate sections hinged to be given a raised or a lowered position, a rock shaft, a raising and lowering head for each guard section, spring means sustaining said head, and means to detachably clamp said spring means to said shaft.

3. In a guard of the class described, a barrier comprising separate sections hinged to be raised or lowered, an operating revolu ble shaft for said sections. and separate resilient means on said shaft slidably engaging the separate sections to raise or lower the same.

4. In a guard of the character described, a plurality of barriers extending adjacent the surface of a road, a shaft rockably ar ranged beneath the barriers, spring actuated means connected between the shaft and the barriers to operate the latter by rocking the former, and allow the barriers to yield to an impact.

5. In a guard of the class described, a series of barriers arranged adjacent and normally lying flush with a pavement of a road, a shaft arranged beneath the barriers and crosswise to the road, crank means adj acent one end of said shaft and gear means between the crank means and the shaft for rocking the latter; together with resilient means in contact with the under surface of the barriers for raising the same and afford a recoil therefor when impacted.

ALBERT T. GOOKIN 

